System of treating hydrocarbon distillates and apparatus used in connection therewith



July 26, 1932. c. w. STRATFORD SYSTEM OF TREATING HYDROCARBON DISTILLATES AND APPARATUS USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Original Filed Nov. 26, 1926 A TTORNE Y.

Patented July 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES WALCOTT STRATFORT), OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI SYSTEM OF TREATING HYDROCARBON DISTILLATES AND APPARATUS USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Original application filed November 26, 1926, Serial No. 150,678. Divided and this application filed November 15, 1929.

or treatment with an agent which has selective chemical aflinity or physical solvent powers, or adsorptive characteristics with reference to the bodies to be removed. When oxygen or air is present during the chemical treatment wasteful polymerization of otherwise useful constituents occurs. 1

The advantages of the present system lie chiefly in the utilization of a small self-contained apparatus for a given capacity, hence a low first cost and the employment of contactors or mixers adapted to rapidly mix to a remarkable degree of intimacy the hydrocarbon and treating material. Furthermore the system affords an apparatus by means of which the treating rates may be regulated and are adjustable as to contact time. The separation after treatment is rapid and complete and the hydrocarbon distillate. is not in contact with the acid for a longer period than necessary to elfcct proper treatment or sufficiently long to cause objectionable polymerization.

Fig. 1 is an elevational detail, with parts in section, of the contactor and settler or separator.

. Fig. 2 is a view taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1.

Mounted above the contactor 5.and bolted to the removable head 12 is a motor 13 supported upon a suitable standard. .This motor is directly connected through a shaft 14 to a shrouded propeller 15 positioned in the lower part of the flow tube 11. The lower extremity of the shaft 14 is held in placeon a floating ball bearing 16. The blades Serial No. 407,395.

of the propeller are so pitched as to cause a downward circulation of the oil through the flow tube, thus the oil, introduced through the inlet pipe 6, completely fills the contactor, is picked up by the propeller and is driven at high velocity throughthe flow tube.

The fresh treating agents are supplied by their respective pumps and introduced into the bottom of the contactors through a line designated as 17. In Fig. 1 of the drawing this line is connected to the settler or separator, but it is understood that the initial stage of treatment will receive its supply of treating agent direct from thesupply pump. The

treating agent on entering the bottom of the I contactor is picked up by a centrifugal ump 18 which discharges it athigh ve ocity through a plurality of holes drilled through the bottom 20 of the contactor.

It will be noted also that this bottom is shaped to reverse the flow of the oil as it comes through the flow tube in order to darect the mixture in an upward direction in the annular space between the shell of the contactor and the outside of the flow tube.

In producing the flow of oil downwardly through the flow tube the oil discharged from.

the blades of the propeller will have a high velocity in axis and some rotation. This rotation of total liquid will cause the heavier liquids to partially separate from the lighter because of centrifugal force. This centrifugal force will project the heavier liquid through a series of radial holes-or vents 21 drilled in the flow tube, and thus form a screen across the up-flowing liquid rising in the annular space between the outside of the flow tube and the shell of the contactor, again mixing with it. The high pressure at the discharge side of the propeller contributes to the formation of the screen by the projection of the liquids through the radial holes. v

There is also a local cyclic movement around the shroud of the propeller and a zone of high turbulence existing between the moving rim of the propeller and the flow tube which are important factors in promoting the intimacy of mixture and dispersion attained.

spiral flow of the liquid produced by the Below the cross feed discharge vents 21 or holes through which the liquids are projected, is an element 22 termed an unwinding head; this head comprises a plurality of vanes positioned to reduce the rotation or propeller to a vertical flow; the pitch of these blades or vanes is sutiicient to redirect the flow so that the liquid is directed vertically onto the bottom of the contactor where it meets the treating agents rising through the holes 19. To produce astraight-line flow radial vanes 23 in the bottom of the contactor further prevent rotary movement ot the liquid. The object of eliminating rotation of the liquid mixture is to cause it to flow at uni torm velocity in cross-section and thus avoid low pressure slow tlowing eddies where separation of liquids and coalescence of treating agents occur.

The bottom of the contactor causes the mixed liquids to flow upwardly in the annular space outside the flow tube. The vanes supporting the tube further prevent any ten dency toward rotation of the liquid in this annular space. lie treating agents-and oil being combined in the bottom of the contactor rise as a mixture and is subjected to the cooling action of the circulating water. The water is introduced at the bottom of the jacket and discharged at the top, its the mixture rises in the annular space outside the flow tube it is caused to pass through and mix with the screen of liquid projected through thecrossteed discharge vents 21 so that a more intimate mixture is etl'ected at this point.

After passing through the screen of liquids discharged through the cross-teed vents, the mixture rises and flows over the top of the flow tube and again passes downwardly. A portion of the mixture to an amount comparable to that charged will pass around the bafile 39 and be discharged from the top of the contactor through the outlet pipe 2a.

This pipe 24; extends into the central part of the separator 25 where it divides into a header 26, the latter connected into a pipe 27 whose ends are closed and along the top of which are a plurality of perforations 28. The pipe 27 is positioned in top of a hood 29, which is open at the bottom, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the top of the separator is a pipe 30 having closed ends, along the upper portion of which is a narrow slit or a plurality of holes into which the oil overflows passing thence to the line 30 and out through the discharge line 31. Connected into the bottom'of the separator is a header 32 into which the line 32 is connected; this line is controlled by a. valve 33 and a by-pass line 34, automatically controlled by the liquid level device in the line 32 which manipulates the valve to maintain constant level of the heavier treating agents in the header 32. The float in the liquid level control 35 is such that it will float upon the heavier acid or soda solution, but will sink in the lighter distillate, thus the separated treating material is maintained at a level in the header 32, while the liquid distillate may fill the separator and overflow into the upper discharge line 30. The discharge apertures or slots through which the liquid is withdrawn to the line 30 are shown at 37 in Fig. 2.

in operation the combined liquid treating material and oil pass from the contactor through the line 2% and are dischar ed from the top vents or holes in the line 2( beneath the hood 29. The mixture will flow downwardly until it reaches the lower lips of the hood, shown in Fig. 2, and during this slow downward iiow the heavier treating material will separate by gravity, from the lighter dis tillate. Piss ng the lower lips of the hood the distill rises to the discharge pipe 30, the iiow in the separator, as shown in Fig. 2, by the arrows, is very slow so that the treatin material which has a higher specific gravity than the distillate is separated out and gravitatcs to the lower header 32 while the distillate rises and overflows into the slot or narrow slotted apertures 3'? in the discharge pipe 30. The primary object oi. in-

troducing the mixture from the contactor.

through a manifold and discharg; 11g it through a plurality of holes is to distribute it in a uniform quantity per unit settling area and to reduce its velocity of flow. The ve locity of flow is continuously reduced until the liquid rises to the position of greatest cross-section of the liquid body in the settler.

Furthermore the method of withdrawal through orifices in a long pipe is adapted to maintain a low outflow velocity. The advantage of the low velocity flow is to attain minimum disturbance to a separation of the liquids by gravity.

The treating material, either acid or soda solution separated out in the container 25, is directed through the line 32 to the next succeeding contactor and that discharged from the final separator goes to spent storage tanks. In the top of the settler and from the upper portion of the decelerating hood 2 9 are air vent lines 38.

In describing the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and2, one single stage of contacting and separation has been detailed, and the progress of the oil and treating material set out. It is understood, however, that the con tacting and separation stages are separate stages which are integral portions of the system. The novelty in the treatment lies particularly in the rapid circulation of a liquid through and around an open ended cylinder in substantially vertical streams and injecting and dispersing through this moving stream a treating material. The treat- Kilt) ment is limited'in the period of contacting so that objectionable polymerization is reduced. Furthermore the contactor is made Heretofore a number of different methods have been employed to refine'hydrocarbon distillatcs, among which are the common agitating tanks, in which treating materials are addedand agitated with air; turbulent tube methods in which the treating material and the hydrocarbon distillates are circulated through a plurality of tubes having friction return bent connections and finally settled in a stagnant pool. Baflie tubes and mechanical mixing devices have been used, as in the centrifugal pump mixing system, and separation by centrifuging. The disadvantages of the centrifugalpump mixing method lies primarily in the poor control of the contact time and separation of the treating agent from the hydrocarbon distillate because of the centrifugal force in the mixing pump, also high investment and power cost are restrictive factors. The use of homogenizers is effective for combining the distillate with the liquids, but the capacity of these devices are relatively limited, power consumption high and distribution of treating agents in homogenizer difficult.

In the present treating system there is effected a highly eflicient mechanical means for accomplishing extremely intimate combination or dispersion of the hydrocarbon distillate with the treating agents within a period of time limited only by the speed of the chemical reaction or physical solution, the air being excluded and appreciable loss of hydrocarbon vapor prevented by the closed system. In this system acid is made to flow counter-currrent to the How of the hydrocarbon distillate for the purpose of economy of acid and better treating of the distillate. The use of the counter-current acid flow in the system reduces undesirable and wasteful polymerization of hydrocarbons and gives easy control of acid treating rate. Cont-act time is directly dependent upon the rate of change and the volume of the contactor.

The treating liquids utilized are preferably sulphuric acid, H 80 caustic soda, or sodium plumbite, sodium or calcium hypochlorite, water H O, or'other acids or similar chemical agents, which have the ability of removing objectionable impurities from the hydrocarbon distillate. The system is not limited to any treating agent, the novelty lying particularly in the method of contacting and separation. In place of the separator shown a centrifuge or centrifugal separating means may be used in connection with the contactor.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for separating from a liquid,

constituents of relatively difi'erent specific gravity comprising a container having inlet and outlet pipes, a hood positioned in the container, manifolding and distributing means adapted to introduced the liquid to be separated beneath the hood at a progressively decreasing flow rate, a perforated pipe at the top of the container for collecting the separated liquid, and manifold discharge pipes for progressively increasing the flow rate of the liquid subsequent to settling whereby substantially equal liquid volumes are introduced and discharged, and separate means for removing the settled out material.

2. A device for separating a liquid from other constituents contained therein of relatively diflerent specific gravity comprising a container having inlet and outlet ports, a hood extending substantially the length of the container, means for introducing and uniformly distributing the incoming liquid over an extended area beneath the hood, at

progressively decelerated velocity, and means at the top of the container for uniformly withdrawing from the entire liquid body the separated liquid at the rate of infeed, and means in the top of the hood and container for venting any accumulated gaseous material.

3. A settler of the character described comprising a container having an open bottomed 

